Obituary: Vernon E. Smith

Vernon E. Smith, 84, of McPherson, passed away on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012, while in the company of family members, at Cedars Health Care Center in McPherson

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McPhersonSentinel - McPherson, KS

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Posted Dec. 14, 2012 at 10:31 AM
Updated Dec 14, 2012 at 10:34 AM

Posted Dec. 14, 2012 at 10:31 AM
Updated Dec 14, 2012 at 10:34 AM

McPherson

Vernon E. Smith, 84, of McPherson, passed away on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012, while in the company of family members, at Cedars Health Care Center in McPherson.
Vernon was born Aug. 29, 1928, in Ottawa, a son of the late Frances E. (Schmitt) and Earl Samuel Smith.

He graduated in 1946 from Walker High School in Nevada, Mo.

Vernon was last employed as an assistant manager at True Value Hardware in McPherson. He had also managed Gambles Stores in Kansas and traveled several states setting up new stores for both Gambles and True Value.

His father worked at Santa Fe Railroad and Vernon was fascinated with trains. When he retired, he built a large model train layout. Often someone would hear about it and call to come over to run the trains. He also enjoyed woodworking and made lots of items for the grandchildren and curio shelves and magazine racks for their own home. He was a perfectionist who worked on something until it was exactly right.

He welcomed neighbors who needed help fixing something or needed a certain size bolt or screw. He will be missed by his family and friends.

He was the husband of Frances Louise (Higgins) Smith. On March 17, 1950, they were married at the Centropolis Assembly of God Church, Centropolis.